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Voices of Us: The independents’ movement transforming Australian democracy
Australian politics is changing. The two-party system is disappearing. The balance of power is shifting, and while it feels fragile now, we may just be on the precipice of a transformative era for democracy in Australia. On 21 May 2022, Australia voted, not just for change in individual seats, but a complete realignment of the way in which our political system works. This book is about how that happened, but it is also about what we have to do next, to make sure that these changes are not fleeting but are bedded down so that we move towards being the sort of progressive, open, economically stable, and egalitarian nation many of us what us to be. Voices of Us looks towards the future with hope and ideas.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
176 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 24, 2025
This book sucks.
It's a rambling, vibey opinion piece. It's bad reporting. It refers to other journalists instead of to empirical analysis of any kind. I stopped reading at the final chapter when I realised that I still didn't know what it was about and that I hadn't learned anything from it. I scratched my head for a long time wondering what it had taught me, what lessons it had tried to impart, what interesting factoids it had shared, and the results after almost 200 hundred pages were pathetically small.
I learned about the Gallagher index, which measures how closely an elected body represents its electors. I learned that the Australian House of Representatives scores high on the Gallagher index, which means that we have disproportional representation. I learned that our Kiwi brethren score better than us on this metric.
I learned that, after the success of the Teal movement, both Labor and the Liberals are staging true believers as fake Independents.
But that's literally all I learned in 200 pages.
The guy needs an editor. He's smart and passionate and seems interested in things like grassroots democracy, campaign finance reform, and proportional representation in the Lower House. But he waffles endlessly, endlessly, and virtually none of it is grounded in economic or political theory and almost all of its citations are of journalists. How else am I supposed to react to this morass of mere opinion except with confusion and despair about my wasted time.
It's a rambling, vibey opinion piece. It's bad reporting. It refers to other journalists instead of to empirical analysis of any kind. I stopped reading at the final chapter when I realised that I still didn't know what it was about and that I hadn't learned anything from it. I scratched my head for a long time wondering what it had taught me, what lessons it had tried to impart, what interesting factoids it had shared, and the results after almost 200 hundred pages were pathetically small.
I learned about the Gallagher index, which measures how closely an elected body represents its electors. I learned that the Australian House of Representatives scores high on the Gallagher index, which means that we have disproportional representation. I learned that our Kiwi brethren score better than us on this metric.
I learned that, after the success of the Teal movement, both Labor and the Liberals are staging true believers as fake Independents.
But that's literally all I learned in 200 pages.
The guy needs an editor. He's smart and passionate and seems interested in things like grassroots democracy, campaign finance reform, and proportional representation in the Lower House. But he waffles endlessly, endlessly, and virtually none of it is grounded in economic or political theory and almost all of its citations are of journalists. How else am I supposed to react to this morass of mere opinion except with confusion and despair about my wasted time.
February 13, 2024
3.75 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
A good discussion on the rise of the ‘teals’ and critique of the Australian democracy. While a deep dive on all of the candidates including Pocock in the Senate would have added a lovely depth it is an interesting and quick read.
A good discussion on the rise of the ‘teals’ and critique of the Australian democracy. While a deep dive on all of the candidates including Pocock in the Senate would have added a lovely depth it is an interesting and quick read.
December 18, 2022
Not a bad read, but more of a polemic than a history. Dunlop runs a little ahead of the march of events in declaring the election of the Teals a turning point, as much as I hope he won't have to eat his words after the next election.
February 11, 2023
Such an interesting and hopeful read. An interesting time to look at Australian federal politics.
March 2, 2023
Very useful analysis of the rise of the Community Independents (more commonly if inaccurately known as teals).
May 17, 2023
Solid critique of the Australian political system with feasible suggestions for how to improve.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews